2013 – Blogging in My Own Voice

Christmas is behind us! I hope whatever you celebrate was very merry, even if all you aimed for was a relaxing Tuesday and the end of Christmas countdowns.

Oldest nephew got an Iron Bear (Iron Man bear) from me.

Youngest nephew was also on my list this year. He got a bear hat that he wanted no part of wearing, but he’s not quite two years old yet and his mama says he needs a hat.

Princess niece (and do NOT argue with her about that because she is not one of those wimpy, helpless princesses!) was on Mr. Knitter’s list. She has a new pair of ballerina house slippers. They immediately went on her feet!

My mother has been a huge source of encouragement, as well as having given Mr. Knitter a big boost in getting needles and other supplies when he started knitting. I hear from her that you’re never too old to enjoy your kids making something for you, so she was also on my list. I made a couple of pairs of wine glass flip-flops from The Crochet Dude’s pattern for her. They slip onto the bottom of a wine glass so that you keep your coaster with you.

And that’s it for our Christmas crafting for this year! Almost. I do have one other gift I still need to get sent out, but that one wasn’t expected by Christmas and is considered more of a “winter celebration” gift. I’ve also got projects to get back to that were put on hold while I prepared for Christmas. I could happily clear all the other chores and responsibilities from my life and just crochet. Ahh… one can dream!

I’m not making a list for 2013 the way I made a list for 2012. I have other lists. I share lists with Mr. Knitter. There’s a lot more “doing my part within the collaboration” that goes on these days, and I just can’t make the same kind of list for that. I am setting a goal to hold myself to, though.

I will blog more in 2013. I will blog in my own voice.

I’ve fallen into a rut where I’m not getting posts written as often as I’d like because it’s really taxing to do it. I just don’t have the energy and mental focus when I do have the time. Why not? Why does writing a post here take so much out of me when I am able to turn out posts now and then for another blog? Why does writing a post here drain me so much more than a few hours of online socialization? I asked myself these questions and kept coming back to one answer.

It’s exhausting to maintain an illusion of something that’s not really yourself.

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of an artist being themself with their art. Finding your own style, doing work that is meaningful to you, etc. I’ve tried really hard to avoid using my own voice on this blog, though. I’ve tried to sound more “professional” by making a forced attempt at writing in a way that my old English teachers would find acceptable for striking a balance of casual tone in “serious” writing. The last bell rang for those classes long ago. I’m not writing for them. Sometimes knowing the rules makes you qualified to break them.

I look at how Amanda Palmer writes her blog and think to myself, “Oh, honey… you are not Amanda Palmer!” Okay, that’s true. But if there’s a rule that says you have to wait until you’re a star before you can do anything a star does, that’s a stupid rule and needs to be broken. Stars are passionate people. In that way, I am exactly like Amanda Palmer!

I love the excitement I feel when I read posts by Steph Cortés on the nerd JERK blog. Her passion for what she does really comes through! I’m pretty good at getting people excited about things I’m excited about, too. I don’t think I’ve done a good job of showing here just how much I love creating. I do that well when writing for blogs where I’m more relaxed about writing style, though.

I will be more relaxed about my writing in 2013, and that should allow me to write more. More writing means you get to see more of what’s going on before we get it finished. I will never be able to blog for Mr. Knitter, though. He and I have very different approaches to our crafts. Maybe I can squeeze in a post now and then about how jealous I am of his knitting skills and my confusion when I look at a box full of double pointed needles.

2 responses to “2013 – Blogging in My Own Voice”

You don’t even know how ridiculously & amazingly honoured I feel that you consider my writing exciting.

Do I know you from somewhere?! Are you an Internet stalker of rad-DOOM?!? How come this is the first time I’ve come across you & said rad-DOOM-osity?!?!?!?!?

I want answers, but I don’t wanna stress you out over writing them for 3 hours. ;)

The reason I joke about that is cos I feel EXACTLY the SAME WAY! Always have and probably always will.

Can I offer some advice, now that we’re such good buddies?! ;) I wanna offer it cos it seems that we have similar goals for 2013.

I’mna paraphrase here: In the interview on the “Ratatouille” DVD named “Fine Food and Film,” animator & visionary Brad Bird said that if one wants to create something amazing, it’s hard to force inspiration. What one might consider is trying to create a space in which one FEELS AMAZINGLY INSPIRED so one can reach these creative goals.

That’s effing hard, dude! It’s crazy-over-the-moon-hard! But we both know that crazy hard work is how some of our best work gets done. Then if we create an inspiring space in which to do hard work, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna go nuts with awesomeness!!!!

This comment is a blog post in itself. I hope Amanda Palmer reads this. I bet she’d dig it. I bet Mr. Gaiman would, too. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they BOTH READ THIS?!?! Neil Gaiman was one of my main inspirations to write in my true voice. For my money, it doesn’t get much better than STARDUST when I was 15 in a library and on the bus home from school.

I think I first saw your work through Amy Crook. (I love it when she draws tentacles!) I just ADORE the video game and geek love done through traditional crafts!

YES! It is time to rock! I love hats, I love blankets, but I want to create things that go way beyond that. Things that other people aren’t creating. And I want other people to know it’s cool to make what you want to make. Whatever that is that you want to make. And it’s never too late to start.

I don’t expect to look back one day and say, “I should have created less art.” That’s just not going to happen. So I may as well go all the way with it!

Creative Journeys of Kelly Martinez

Why “45 degrees off”?

We are all looking at the same world each day. Some of us see different pieces of it, and some of us are looking at the same pieces from different points of view. As an artist, I work to share my point of view in a way that allows you to see the world through my eyes, even if just for a short time. It may look like the same world you are used to seeing, but turned a little. Say... about 45 degrees off.

Posts by Category

Posts by Category

RePosting Policy

All work at 45 degrees off is owned by K. Martinez unless stated otherwise. (I have been known to show fellow artists some love.) If you see something you like and want to tell others about it, go ahead and repost it with a link back to here. If you want to use my work as an illustration for a post in your blog, email me at km (dot) rosaamarilla (at) gmail (dot) com to request my permission. You may not use my work for any other purposes.